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Original poster

How long to leave asking price offer on the table

102 replies

Mayjay18 · 13/04/2023 22:50

Hello! Just looking for some advice.
last Thursday we offered asking price on a house that we had fallen in love with. Seemed a reasonable price, if not slightly high, but we loved it so thought it would secure the deal.
We’ve sold our house to a cash buyer and are ready to go. Estate agents rang the vendor and they said they wanted to wait for the other viewings. Fair enough. One viewer cancelled and the other didn’t want to offer. I’m not sure if they had other viewings booked in, but the estate agent rang me on Tuesday and said the vendors wanted the night to think about our offer and they would ring on Wednesday. I rang the estate agent last night and they said they’d rang the seller 3 times, left a voicemail and text and have heard nothing. I rang again today and same thing. How long do we leave this offer on the table?! I loooove this house, but this is stressing me out big time! It’s been a week now since we offered asking price and we’re getting nowhere. We don’t live in an area where houses are selling above their valuation.

OP posts:
CellophaneFlower · 14/04/2023 09:37

I'd be put off dealing with vendors that don't respond to their agent, but I get if you love the house it's not easy just to walk away.

If you're not looking to offer more, I'd just discount it and continue my search, whilst leaving the offer on the table. You've nothing to lose that way.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 10:20

Ah, thank you. I thought the same thing, I was just trying to convince myself to walk away from it…such a shame because the house is perfect.
thank you for your reply :)

OP posts:
SnarkyBag · 14/04/2023 10:23

I would be wary of going ahead simply because if they’re this flakey at the offers stage then I wouldn’t want to deal with delays throughout the sale. I would also be worried about getting fat down the process only for them to pull the rug because they got a higher offer.

SnarkyBag · 14/04/2023 10:24

Far not fat but the stress may not help 🤣

kweeble · 14/04/2023 10:34

They may be hoping to use your offer to bump another one up - either way they seem a pain to deal with and possibly won’t move. I’d give an end date and keep looking.

Notyetthere · 14/04/2023 10:52

We were in this situation back in summer 2020 during the property madness post 1st lockdown. We made a full asking price offer but heard back nothing. Chased the agents for several days but even they heard nothing from their clients. We had sold our place so we were raring to get on with it. I remember at the time it being some sort of probate sale or possibly needed for care home fees and that there might be infighting within the family where some want to sell and others didn't. We pulled out. We didn't want this kind of circus around during the conveyancing process.

I recently noticed that the same place is now on the market for sale after an extension and renovations. The person who bought is a builder/developer who had just sold another renovation that he had just completed nearby. We were planning to do the same but it would have been our 'forever' home. And what was puzzling is that they sold it for less than our offer several months after our completion date on our current home so I'm assuming the infighting went on for a while after. Or they didn't like us as buyers. We shall never know.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 10:52

Yes! These have been my thoughts exactly!!! It’s not even as though we put a cheeky offer in, it’s asking price!
We’re viewing another house tomorrow that’s a bit bigger and the same price, so I might ring the EA today and tell them they have until tomorrow evening to decide. I think they’ve had enough time!
thank you guys for the help, very much appreciated

OP posts:
Notyetthere · 14/04/2023 10:53

kweeble · 14/04/2023 10:34

They may be hoping to use your offer to bump another one up - either way they seem a pain to deal with and possibly won’t move. I’d give an end date and keep looking.

Yep. It is very likely this. Trying to get a higher offer or they aren't too motivated to move.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 10:56

Notyetthere I thought possibly because it’s an empty property, there might be something like this going on. It’s frustrating when you love something so much to let it go, but we could find somewhere else and be in before that house even sells. I’m thinking exactly the same, if we pull out there is no way that house will sell for asking price. Seems a bizarre mentality, but you never know what’s going on do you?

OP posts:
CellophaneFlower · 14/04/2023 11:23

If it's a probate sale, it's likely there may be a few parties involved, so it could be why it's taking longer for an answer. Not an excuse to keep you hanging and not respond to the agent at all though.

If it's just come on the market and you've made an asking price offer straight away, I get that they might be hesitant to accept. Again, they should keep you updated though.

Vavazoom · 14/04/2023 11:44

We had the same and gave them a deadline after which the offer would be off the table. They missed the deadline by 2 hours but accepted our offer. We went ahead with the purchase but then they pulled out just before exchange. In retrospect they clearly weren’t committed to selling and we should have stuck to our guns when they missed the deadline. We lost thousands in solicitors fees and surveys etc.

RidingMyBike · 14/04/2023 12:06

If it's a probate sale you sometimes get one person who is wobbly about selling but the other beneficiaries want too (eg a child wanting to live in their childhood home but can't afford to buy siblings out). Or they're misty-eyed about the property and think it's worth more/in better condition than it is.

KievLoverTwo · 14/04/2023 12:25

Having read your reply, I'd give them until the end of Monday.

We had sellers sit on an offer for a week. Figured they were using it to generate interest. Prior to that, they'd had 17 viewings and no offers.

We were aware it was overpriced by 40k but we were desperate. They've got an eyesore behind their house which is sort of a tip that has planning permission. This local builder has been building houses over TEN YEARS. Of course, they told us it would all happen very quickly, but that's not what the rightmove sold history told me about the other street nearby that he built.

We then withdrew our offer, heard nothing back.

They couldn't afford to move. It never sold. They couldn't even cope with our 5k under asking which was 35k more than the house is actually worth, given local sales and the ongoing building problem.

Anyway, slow responses... not good. But Monday gives them a whole weekend to sort their act out.

Ariela · 14/04/2023 12:47

I would view the other house, and if you still prefer the first house, drive over and see if the vendors are in, and check they have received your offer from the EA. Frankly I don't trust many EA to pass all offers on.

CatOnTheChair · 14/04/2023 12:57

I wouldn't withdraw the offer. Just leave it on the table, and look at other stuff. If you find something better, withdraw then.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 13:35

Thank you everyone, all really helpful. The house is empty and they’ve been renting it out for the last 10 years to a family friend who has recently relocated. I think I did make a mistake offering asking price straight off the bat, but I just thought it would secure the sale. I’ve got my fingers crossed for this other house, although the location isn’t as ideal as the house we want. :(

OP posts:
rainingsnoring · 14/04/2023 13:39

I hope you find another house that suits you even better.
Even if they do accept your offer, it sounds as if you have offered more than you are comfortable paying and that the seller is unreliable so there will be a higher chance of them messing around further down the line when you have spent £££.

KievLoverTwo · 14/04/2023 13:40

Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 13:35

Thank you everyone, all really helpful. The house is empty and they’ve been renting it out for the last 10 years to a family friend who has recently relocated. I think I did make a mistake offering asking price straight off the bat, but I just thought it would secure the sale. I’ve got my fingers crossed for this other house, although the location isn’t as ideal as the house we want. :(

Oopsie.

I would use that in my email.

'Your vendors are extremely lucky to get an offer at full asking price in the current market. We did so because we are serious buyers.

We have other viewings booked and my offer is off the table from 5pm on Monday.'

  • because they are. Full price right now is a bit crazy. You live and learn.
Saschka · 14/04/2023 14:13

There are some unrealistic sellers about at the moment - we had an offer turned down about six weeks ago because “the seller is only considering offers at least 10% over the asking price”. I’m sorry, but if you want 10% over the asking price, you need to put down that figure as your asking price, not price it low to get viewings then refuse all offers. It just wastes everyone’s time.

Anyway, six weeks later the house is still in the market. Annoyingly nothing else is! But luckily we’re chain-free, so in no rush to move ourselves.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 14:33

Yes that’s brilliant! I thought they would for sure just take it off the market because no one is offering asking price at the moment. Like you said, I’ve learnt my lesson for next time haha!

I said exactly the same thing to my husband. If they wanted more than asking price they should have put it on the market for that amount!!! You have an idea when you market your house what an acceptable figure under the asking price would be…not above it!!!

I’m going to call them now and let them know we’re viewing other houses this weekend and see how the conversation goes from there. I’m wondering if giving them a time limit will push them to accept?

OP posts:
Saschka · 14/04/2023 15:02

Unfortunately I think the more you chase, the keener you look and the more likely they think you are to crack.

They know where you are if they want to accept the offer. I’d suggest you give up on this one (no response is basically an “no”) and view other places.

CellophaneFlower · 14/04/2023 15:33

I disagree it's a no, otherwise they'd have surely come back with an offer they'd accept? It's not as if OP has offered under so they've dismissed her.

I suspect they're hedging their bets a bit. They're waiting to see if they get another offer, so they can compare. This is assuming they've just gone on the market obviously. If you go on and instantly get an asking price offer, it will make you wonder if your asking price is too low. Despite getting a valuation, it's still a bit of an unknown what you can expect to achieve.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 15:36

So I just rang the EA and they said the vendors have 3 viewings tomorrow, one of which is a first time buyer. They want to accept our offer on the provision that the first time buyer doesn’t make an offer tomorrow. So they’ll ring us tomorrow evening.
The EA said that the sellers don’t want a chain as they’ve been ‘stung before’. I can’t understand this because we have a cash buyer and their property is empty. But hey ho, each to their own.
The house is a large 30’s semi but is priced well above first time buyer prices, hence it being for our family, but this could be someone’s inheritance I suppose. Seems a bit strange to me. Any thoughts? X

OP posts:
CellophaneFlower · 14/04/2023 15:40

I think this sounds promising. Sometimes people have cash buyers but the cash never materialises and they suddenly require a mortgage. Sounds like they're just preferring to deal with the least amount of transactions possible.

Original poster
Mayjay18 · 14/04/2023 15:46

Okay! So this is sort of good news?
the EA did say she would call tomorrow evening with the answer so fingers crossed.
we have the other house to view tomorrow so all of our eggs aren’t in the one basket at least….even though I reeallllyyyyy want the other house haha!
thank you all so much for talking to me today. You’ve all been making this a bit less stressful.

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